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Sunday, February 15, 2009

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Sunday Sweets are my weekly NON-Wreck features, the better to show how wrecky the Wrecks really are.

I frequently get asked if I've heard of or watch Ace of Cakes. Heh. Guys, I write a cake blog. If it's even remotely cake-related, I've probably heard of it. Safe cupcake amendment in Texas? Check. Cake puppet singing Karen Carpenter? Check. Ace of Cakes? Checkity check. And yes, I do love Duff and the gang. In fact, one of the few reasons I'm happy to have cable again (we went without for a few years) is that I can start catching up on all the episodes I've missed.

Anyway, I've been waiting for just the right Charm City creation to feature here on Sunday Sweets, and I think I've finally found it. Not only is it a cool cake, it also brings together two addictive shows: Ace of Cakes and LOST.

Check out what Duff & Co. created to help the cast of LOST celebrate their 100th episode:

Neat, huh? There's the computer terminal (probably with the famous numbers on it, but I can't quite tell), a suitcase, a gun, the whole cast, and of course my favorite: a four-pack of Dharma beer.

Hey, there's even a little crashed plane on the side! Nice. But, uh, guys? Shouldn't the plane be snapped in two, with the tail section on the other side of the island? Hmmm? ;)

Here's a nice detail shot:And the big group shot with both casts:

All of these photos are from Jorge Garcia's blog, by the way. Be sure to check there for a few more photos not posted here, and many thanks to Rachel K. for being the first to tell me about it!

Sorry folks, but I have to admit I'm not a big ACE of CAKES fan. WAY too much touching of the frosting with bare hands. I swear on one show I saw someone brush a piece of hair out of her face and then go right back to molding fondant. I have to say that this is the show that has gotten me to gag whenever I think of eating fondant. To me eating one of their cakes would be like eating playdough (not in flavor, but in the amount of touching that has been done to it)

Am I the only one who hates Ace of Cakes for their over use of fondant and how every cake just looks cartoony? I am always like so where is the cake? Can you eat that? I don't think you can eat that. And Duff is a cocky jerk.

Here's my problem with Ace of Cakes: They're not really doing much with cake, are they? They're just making sugar sculptures. If it was called Fun with Fondant, I'd be more of a fan. But I agree with Lorelai, the thought of eating something that's been sculpted that much by sweaty human hands if pretty gross.

They didn't only make a cake for "Lost" while they were here in Hawaii. They also made a cake at Schofield Barracks (an Army post here) to honor the soldiers while they were here. It was a helicopter with working rotors and lights. We got to go see them in action and met Duff, Mary Alice and Geof.

I would hardly call most of what they do cakes (at least what is actually seen on the show). If you watch the show, they mostly use Styrofoam, pipes, wood, and fondant to do a lot of the showy "cakes". Cake, by the nature of its name, is cake; something you can eat. I am sure someone out there likes to eat cardboard with icing on it, but not me.

Here in Baltimore, there are dozens of bakeries that do excellent cakes with all the frosting you want, but there is only one CharmCityCakes. Their creations are crazy,unique, fondant covered wonders but they also taste great. And believe me, Duff is EXACTLY what you see on the show. (Most) everyone finds him to be adorable and crazy likable.

Yeah - maybe because I'm not a LOST fan, but I'm not feeling this cake either. I like Ace of Cakes though and could think of at least a dozen other cakes that I think are awesome.

I agree with the other poster, the scale is way off. People smaller than beer cans, plane even smaller than the people? And then all the people are just standing around on a cream base that is supposed to be sand I guess? I think I might have liked it better without the figures. Everything else works in scale - the computer, beer, suitcase, gun etc.

Ok, oh well - I do appreciate the effort that went into this. I do love Duff's cakes usually!

I guess I'm also in the minority of commenters here that don't like Ace of Cakes. I did really like it for a while in the first season. I would try to convince my friends to watch it and everything. Somewhere along the line I just stopped watching until one day a friend of mine called and asked why she never listened to me "because Ace of Cakes is awesome." I turned it on to watch with her and found that I had no idea why I liked it in the first place. Like the other commenters here have said, the cakes are really cartoony (except the Harry Potter one, that one was awesome...EXCEPT the stupid cat they randomly put in there!), there is never enough cake, I can NEVER believe how much people spend on them (it says on their website they require a MINIMUM $1000 order, so even the people that walk out with a cake that looks like a cartoon and will feed less than 10 people spent $1000 or more), and Duff comes across as a jerk (obviously I don't know him in real life, so I don't want to call him a jerk if that's only how he's coming across on tv).

Thanks for posting the cake! I can't wait to tell everyone at work tomorrow. We had an amazing time in Hawaii and it was such a thrill to meet the Lost cast and crew.

Hey Biff, to answer your question, it was almost all cake. The island, computer, and suitcase were all completely made of cake. The water was poured sugar. Pretty much the whole thing except the support to hold up the tree and the coconuts was edible.

I have to admit, even tho' the cakes are creative, beautiful, and sometimes genius... the all look kinda nasty. Like, I never see them bake an actual cake. Is it from a mix or from scratch? Do they do fillings like strawberry or lemon? Then they roll the fondant with their fingers... and I can't help but think it tastes like the sweat from their hands.

Which brings me to another point... who eats fondant? I mean, it looks good, but can you eat it? No. You gotta peel off the fondant first. There was one cake, the elephant one, where they just covered some Styrofoam to look like a pachyderm and then just cut of some sheet cake to spread around the base. That's cheating!

Don't get me wrong, I like the show. I know that traditional frosting has limitations and that fondant lends to endless possibilities. But just once, I'd like to see them bake an equally beautiful cake that looks good enough to eat, too.

I watch Ace of Cakes all the time and I have to say I also question how much of the cake is actually edible?! Today I was watching the show and they were making a Harry Potter cake...I saw a ton of styrofoam, wood, cardboard and of course a ton of fondant...so disappointing! I would love to see them make a cake made only of cake and decorated with frosting not fondant! Then I might be intersted in paying $1,000 for something that would be delicious!

I'd probably appreciate this cake more if I was a Lost fan, but considering I've never seen a single episode. . . Oh, well.

What really intrigued me was the article on Texas's safe cupcake legislation. I don't know if it's pronounced the same way as the candy company, but does anyone else see the irony in a nutrition professor with the last name of Nestle? Haha :D

I like the cake and I watch Ace of Cakes almost religously. But, I had to send an email to them and tell them they should (just for the sake of us watching) show them WASHing thier hands once in awhile. I agree that there is way too much playing around and touching their face, etc. and going right back to touching something they expect someone to EAT!

Lost Ace of Cakes Cake! That is so cool! I think the little plane is suppose to be the drug dealers plane? I wonder if this episode has aired? I don't remember seeing it but I have missed a few Ace of Cakes lately.

Cross pollenating the tv and interwebby! CharmCityCakes is cool! But I am quite surprised the Millennium Falcon cake didn't make the cut before this one. THAT was amazing. And hell yeah! Mary Alice commented! Party on Garth!

I'm going to leap to their defense and say that that little plane is actually Kate's toy plane from the episode where she killed her childhood sweetheart in the car crash, not the crashed plane they were on. Yeah, I am that geeky abou the show. I love LOST! This is a fab cake!

My 2 ultimate TV shows: LOST and Ace of Cakes. I was super excited when I saw this on Jorge's blog. Plus, how sweet is it that Mary Alice commented! Thanks for posting this cake Jen, you made my day :)

I really can't believe the anger people are feeling towards Charm City Cake's creations and feel the need to jump in.

Sure, it would be awesome if they could create super-intricate 3d models out of nothing but frosting and cake and therefore have everything on the board edible, but would you like to give it a try? Most of the things they make you *could not* make out of cake unless you had a million different support rods and such. Think of most of the things are really intricate caketoppers. You don't eat the little bride and groom, so why would you eat the dragon?

Also, frosting is simply ugly in 99% of the case. That's why the wrecks we see every day are almost always frosted, while the Sunday Sweets are almost always using fondant.

Furthermore you can eat fondant just fine, and if it's the right brand or homemade, it can actually taste pretty good. The reason you've heard you shouldn't eat fondant is that your bakery used a really low quality kind that tastes terrible *cough*Wilton*cough* and didn't want you to know and so told you it was inedible and should be peeled off.

Finnnnally, are you seriously complaining about them working the fondant with their hands? Have you never eaten freshly made bread or anything else made by someone else's hands?

I don't understand why people are being so bitchy about Ace of Cakes... get your facts straight at least... you're complaining about fondants - you know all those "Sunday Sweets" that are posted? Made with fondant. I think they also ice all their cakes first in buttercream (?) and then fondant.. but honestly, I don't think you could make cakes that look that smooth without using fondant - and I don't know how else you suggest them putting it on the cake other than with their hands?!

To cijimcbride: While I'm not sure if they make the cakes from scratch (I assume so though) they come in all these flavours:http://www.charmcitycakes.com/noflash/flavorslist.html

Also, I don't know where you got that info.. but, yes you CAN eat fondant. And that elephant cake you're referencing? Was for a ZOO, who specifically requested the elephant NOT be eaten as the zoo passing around pieces of slaughtered elephant cake to it's guest would be highly inappropriate, which explains the sheet cakes. Geez.

Gah! I absolutely detest Ace of Cakes, they're unsanitary and I think they all act like they're on quaaludes. :| blah - They cut styrofoam in the bakery, which is nasty and toxic, they cut wood in there too and the girls hair hangs down all over the cakes and has anyone else seen the episode when they're icing big cakes and get into a big icing fight, wiping icing all over each other's arms, then go back to icing the cakes!!!

My original comment was going to be that Charm City Cakes knew about you; I found cakewrecks a few months ago due to a posting by Mary Alice on their blog!

As far as the hygiene issues, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. We see 30 minutes out of the hours they spend working each week. Who wants to see them wash their hands multiple times per episode? That would be boring!

I have to agree with the minority as well. I don't see anything special about Ace of Cakes. Most of the Sunday sweets are fantastic cakes, but I don't get Charm city. Too cutesy, too cartoony, and to watch the show is torture. Just seems like everyone plays to the camera too much. But I also think I am so tired of "reality shows" Remember when food network used to show shows with real chefs who cooked?

I live in Baltimore, so I am extremely happy to see Charm City Cakes featured here.

I've got to say...I'm really puzzled by all the hate for CCC. First of all, they don't only do cartoony cakes. I'm presuming the people criticizing them for that have never taken a look at their site and all the classic cakes they do. Second, how much of the work they do wld really be posible without all the fondant? Also,good quality fondant isn't the nasty rap that low quality fondant is, and I'm pretty sure thy aren't using bad quality fondant for the prices they charge. Oh, and the ones that are mostly made of styrofoamand pipe and varius other things? Those were made like that because the clients have *asked* for them to be made that way, like the HP cake and the elephant cake. You can't fault them for doing what they were asked to do, right?And 'm laughing at the fact that someone thinks CCC's cakes are too cutesy and cartoony. Uh...you *did* see the baby dragon cakes on Sunday Sweets, yes?

They actually do do quite a lot with the cake itself, pretty much every episode I'seen has involved a lot of carving of the cakes, not just fondant work.

Mybe Im biased, because I think frosting is usually completely digusting, but I'd muh rather have one of Duff's cakes with all the fondant than an iced one. All the best cakes are done in fondant rather than icing, anyway.Things like this:http://media.photobucket.com/image/twilight%20cake/shelleymurdock/032.jpg?o=14 are what can hapen when people try to ue icing instead of fondant. Nasty.

At first I thought this was a pick of a wreck. So funny to read how others feel the same as me. We watch Ace of Cakes here at my house just to laugh at the ridiculous "cakes" they make. They look horrible and we just cringe at all that touching and manipulating that is done, one cake took 40 hrs they said?? Never see them even refrigerate the things. I feel sort of sad for the customers when they see the cakes, all that money they paid, lol. The staff seem nice enough on the show, but it's like they're not in on the joke or something. I watch to hate, it's entertaining.Mona

very nice cake, first i see like that Fred Smilek is the acting president of the Society to Save Endangered Species. It was founded two years ago by Fred Smilek along with his two best friends Charles and Jonathan. http://www.fredjsmilek.com

I wish I could've worked on this cake...then the characters would look more like the real people and have a bit more 'life' to them. I love LOST...and I like Ace of Cakes...but I don't like their sugar figures. I've seen, and can do, much much better sugar sculpting.

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